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| Mike Stawski led Concordia-Chicago to 150 wins in his four seasons as the Cougars' coach. Photo by Kylie Bridgenhagen, d3photography.com |
The University of Mary Hardin-Baylor has named Mike Stawski as the school’s new head baseball coach, UMHB vice president for athletics Randy Mann announced on June 8. Stawski will officially start at UMHB on Monday, July 1.
Stawski joins UMHB after turning Concordia-Chicago into a national championship contender in four seasons as the Cougars head coach. Stawski guided CUC to a 42-10 record this season and the Cougars advanced to the NCAA Division III Super Regionals after spending five weeks ranked No. 1 in the country. CUC also won 24 consecutive games during the regular season.
Stawski guided Concordia to back-to-back 40-win seasons and led the Cougars to a 150-51 record in his four seasons as head coach. CUC also made the first two NCAA Division III World Series appearances in program history under his direction in 2017 and 2018. The Cougars won a conference regular season title or advanced to an NCAA Regional in each of his four seasons as head coach.
Stawski was a three-time Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference Coach of the Year during his tenure at CUC and was the D3baseball.com Midwest Region Coach of the Year. He spent two seasons as head assistant coach and pitching coach at CUC before taking over as head coach. His first collegiate head coaching job was at Spalding, where he posted an 82-44 record in three seasons. The Golden Eagles were 32-11 in his final season as he won SLIAC Coach of the Year honors. Stawski started his coaching career with a three-year stint as head assistant coach and pitching coach at Webster.
"We cannot thank Mike enough for what he has done to make Concordia-Chicago into an NCAA Division III national power," said Pete Gnan, CUC athletic director. "The baseball program's success over the last four years has been a blessing not only to the athletics program, but also to the entire university, and provided greater recognition on a national level. We will miss him, and we wish him well in his future."
Stawski replaces Ben Shipp as head coach of the Cru baseball program. Shipp announced his retirement, effective in January, after a 34-year career with the UMHB athletic department. Mary Hardin-Baylor was 11-26 this past season.
“When my wife and I got to UMHB, we saw a beautiful campus and outstanding facilities and were just floored by everything the university has to offer,” Stawski said. “It feels like a wonderful place to develop student-athletes in a Christian environment. I am very appreciative to Dr. Randy O’Rear and Randy Mann for taking a chance on us. I think the best baseball days are ahead for UMHB and my family and I are so excited to have this opportunity and can’t wait to get there.”
Stawski is a 2006 graduate of St. Joseph’s (Ind.) with a degree in business administration. He was a four-year letter winner as a pitcher and was an all-conference and academic all-conference selection in three of his four seasons. Stawski earned an MBA from Webster in 2011. Stawski and his wife, Melissa, have three children, Michael, Charlie and Danni.
“We are very excited to have the opportunity to hire a coach with the experience and success that Mike Stawski brings to our program,” Mann said. “He has quickly turned around and developed two other programs into national powers. We are looking forward to what he can do for UMHB baseball and expect big things to come for this program.”
The Concordia-Chicago administration is committed to continuing the long-term success of the baseball program, according to the university's news release.